Farmers' preference for farming: Evidence from a nationally representative farm survey in India

Using data from a nationally representative farm survey in India, we have analyzed Indian farmers' stated preference for farming as a profession. Findings show that more than 40% of farmers dislike farming as a profession because of low profits, high risk, and lack of social status, yet they continu...

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Main Authors: Birthal, Pratap S., Roy, Devesh, Khan, Md. Tajuddin, Negi, Digvijay S.
Format: Journal Article
Language:Inglés
Published: Wiley 2015
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/149369
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author Birthal, Pratap S.
Roy, Devesh
Khan, Md. Tajuddin
Negi, Digvijay S.
author_browse Birthal, Pratap S.
Khan, Md. Tajuddin
Negi, Digvijay S.
Roy, Devesh
author_facet Birthal, Pratap S.
Roy, Devesh
Khan, Md. Tajuddin
Negi, Digvijay S.
author_sort Birthal, Pratap S.
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Using data from a nationally representative farm survey in India, we have analyzed Indian farmers' stated preference for farming as a profession. Findings show that more than 40% of farmers dislike farming as a profession because of low profits, high risk, and lack of social status, yet they continue with it owing to a lack of opportunities outside agriculture. Farmers who express a preference for moving out of agriculture are mostly those with small landholdings, poor irrigation facilities, fewer productive assets including livestock, and follow a cereal‐centric cropping pattern. They also have relatively lower access to credit, insurance, and information, and are weakly integrated with social networks such as self‐help groups and farmers' organizations. Importantly, the disinclination for farming, conditional on other covariates, is not significantly differentiated by caste, an important indicator of social status in rural India. Yet, within a caste group, the dislike for farming moderates with larger landholdings.
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spelling CGSpace1493692024-11-15T08:52:14Z Farmers' preference for farming: Evidence from a nationally representative farm survey in India Birthal, Pratap S. Roy, Devesh Khan, Md. Tajuddin Negi, Digvijay S. farm size caste systems Using data from a nationally representative farm survey in India, we have analyzed Indian farmers' stated preference for farming as a profession. Findings show that more than 40% of farmers dislike farming as a profession because of low profits, high risk, and lack of social status, yet they continue with it owing to a lack of opportunities outside agriculture. Farmers who express a preference for moving out of agriculture are mostly those with small landholdings, poor irrigation facilities, fewer productive assets including livestock, and follow a cereal‐centric cropping pattern. They also have relatively lower access to credit, insurance, and information, and are weakly integrated with social networks such as self‐help groups and farmers' organizations. Importantly, the disinclination for farming, conditional on other covariates, is not significantly differentiated by caste, an important indicator of social status in rural India. Yet, within a caste group, the dislike for farming moderates with larger landholdings. 2015-06-26 2024-08-01T02:49:17Z 2024-08-01T02:49:17Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/149369 en Limited Access Wiley Birthal, Pratap Singh; Roy, Devesh; Khan, Md. Tajuddin; and Negi, Digvijay S. 2015. Farmers' preference for farming: Evidence from a nationally representative farm survey in India. The Developing Economies 53 (2): 112 - 134. https://doi.org/10.1111/deve.12072
spellingShingle farm size
caste systems
Birthal, Pratap S.
Roy, Devesh
Khan, Md. Tajuddin
Negi, Digvijay S.
Farmers' preference for farming: Evidence from a nationally representative farm survey in India
title Farmers' preference for farming: Evidence from a nationally representative farm survey in India
title_full Farmers' preference for farming: Evidence from a nationally representative farm survey in India
title_fullStr Farmers' preference for farming: Evidence from a nationally representative farm survey in India
title_full_unstemmed Farmers' preference for farming: Evidence from a nationally representative farm survey in India
title_short Farmers' preference for farming: Evidence from a nationally representative farm survey in India
title_sort farmers preference for farming evidence from a nationally representative farm survey in india
topic farm size
caste systems
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/149369
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